Joseph Banks - Endeavour Journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 - No. 0352
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 352]
Otahite
We proceeded about 4 miles farther & had houses pretty plentifully on each side the river the vally being all this way 3 or 400 yards across we were now shewn a house which we were told would be the last we should see the master offerd us Cocoa nutts & we refreshd ourselves beyond this we went maybe 6 miles (it is dificult to guess distances when roads are dificult bad as this was as we were we being generaly obligd to travel along the course of the river) we passd by several hollow places under stones where they told us that people who were benighted slept at lengh we arrivd at a place where the river was bankd on each side with steep hills rocks & a caskade which fell from them made a pool so deep that the Indians said we could not go beyond it they never did their business lay upon the rocks on each side on the plains above which grew plenty of Vae the avenues to these were truly dreadfull the rocks were nearly perpendicular one near 100 feet in hight the face of it constantly wet & slippery with the water of numberless springs directly up the face even of this was a road or rather a succession of long peices of the bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus which servd them as a rope to take hold of & scramble up from ledge to ledge tho upon those very ledges none but a goat or an Indian could have stood one of these ropes was near 30 feet in lengh our guides offerd to help us up this pass but rather recomended one lower down a few hundred yards which was much less dangerous tho we did not chuse to venture